India travel to Bangladesh with focus on the T20 World Cup

It was rather ill-tempered the last time these two sides met in Bangladesh, with Harmanpreet Kaur smashing the stumps and slamming umpires for “pathetic decisions”, and the home captain Nigar Sultana criticising her “manners”. Nine months later, the bigger picture is the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh this September-October, as India and Bangladesh begin their preparations with a five-T20I series in Sylhet, starting Sunday.

Building towards T20 World Cup

Bangladesh were thrashed 3-0 at home by Australia a few weeks ago, and despite that drubbing they haven’t changed their squad much for this series. India’s last T20I series was also a 2-1 defeat at home to Australia in December-January, where seniors such as Harmanpreet and Smriti Mandhana had underwhelming performances. However, several of India’s international players got back to form in the 2024 WPL, and with some new names in the mix, they will hope to carry that momentum into international cricket as well. Both teams will be keen to experiment and find their ideal combinations in these five T20Is before they travel to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup in July, ahead of the T20 World Cup later this year.

Bangladesh’s batting struggles

Bangladesh need improvement in their batting if they want to give India a fight. In the recent series against Australia, they scored totals of 126 for 4, 103 for 9 and 78 all out. Only their captain Sultana was consistent with 96 runs in three innings, including a fifty, though it came at a strike rate of 91.42. The second-best batter for Bangladesh was Fahima Khatun, with 53 runs. From the squad that played Australia, Bangladesh made just one change, bringing in wicketkeeper-batter Rubya Haider, who played the three-T20I series against Sri Lanka last year, in place of uncapped Farzana Akter. The hosts will need top-order batters such as Fargana Hoque, Sobhana Mostary and Rubya to provide a solid foundation before Sultana can take off.

Can India’s top order flourish in Sylhet?

The last time India toured Bangladesh in July 2023, their top three had a disappointing series. In three matches, Shafali Verma scored a total of 30, Smriti Mandhana 52, and Jemimah Rodrigues 47. Rodrigues will miss this series due to back niggle. As far as recent form goes, both openers had an excellent WPL, with Shafali finishing as the third highest run-scorer with 309 in nine matches at a strike rate of 156.85 and Mandhana just behind her with 300 in ten games at 133.92. With Richa Ghosh preferred as the team’s first-choice keeper, Yastika Bhatia might play as a pure batter at No.3; she scored 204 runs in eight games at 121.42 as an opener for Mumbai Indians in the WPL. India will believe their top three are better prepared this time.

WPL stars and a problem of plenty

India potentially have a problem of plenty. Legspinner S Asha and spin-bowling allrounder S Sajana have earned maiden international call-ups on the back of their WPL performance after years of toil in the domestic circuit. Asha, 33, became the first Indian to take a five-for in the WPL and she finished as the second highest wicket-taker (12) of the season, playing a crucial part in Royal Challengers Bangalore’s title-winning run. Sajana was one of Mumbai’s breakout stars with her big-hitting ability. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav has returned to India’s squad after a year, following an impressive outing for Delhi Capitals, picking up ten wickets in nine games at an economy rate of 7.48. With Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil being the first-choice spinners, how India squeeze in Asha, Radha and Saika Ishaque in the XI remains to be seen. To accommodate Sajana in the lower-middle order, India might even have to bench Amanjot Kaur.

Pitch and conditions in Sylhet

The last T20I series between the two sides was played entirely in Dhaka. India went in with three spinners and two seamers, with Shafali and Rodrigues chipping with more overs of spin as part-timers. Bangladesh played a spin-heavy attack with just one seamer in Marufa Akther. This time, all the five T20Is are in Sylhet, from 3.30pm local time. The venue recently hosted a men’s three-T20I series between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka in March, where the average score was 177 and four of the top five bowlers were fast bowlers. Some assistance for the seamers can be expected initially but both teams might still bank on spinners for wickets. India have played two T20Is against Bangladesh at this venue, and both times, they scored 150-plus and restricted the hosts to 100 or below.